Yeah, That's Off By 6 God-Damned TRILLION Dollars...

[Hissyspit]

Last edited Wed Mar 20, 2013, 07:30 PM - Edit history (2)

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/03/charts-cost-iraq-war

Charts: Bush Lowballed Us on Iraq by $6 Trillion

By Tasneem Raja on Tue. March 19, 2013 3:00 AM PDT

Ten years later, the Bush administration's projected price tag for the war in Iraq seems downright cute. According to the first-ever comprehensive count of the true toll of the combined wars, the estimate the administration used to sell the invasion in 2003 was about 100 times too low.

So what did that $6 trillion get us, exactly? Since we borrowed to pay for much of the war, we're facing nearing $4 trillion in cumulative interest between now and 2053, according to the 30 researchers who worked on the "Costs of War" report for Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies.

To date, according to the report, medical and disability claims of US war veterans of Iraq have reached $84 billion; ongoing care for wounded Iraq war vets and their families is expected to require nearly $500 billion more over the next several decades. Homeland Security got $245 billion in additional funding thanks to increased threats of terror—real, imagined, and staged—over the last 10 years. On-the-ground operations alone ended up being 16 times more expensive than the Bush Cabinet's original estimate for the entire enterprise.

Apparently the Office of Management and Budget was really, really bad at math for a while there in 2003.


MORE[p]

[CincyDem]

1. Com'on...what's 6 trillion between friends, eh?

You. Me. What? We're gonna let a little thing like money come between us. Besides, Ben said he's gonna cover the interest for us so no reason to worry.

As they say - party on Garth.

[Politicalboi]

2. Remember, "It's just a bunch of numbers"

Which back in Bush's term, got a laugh. That fuzzy math finally caught up to us. Bush, so "misunderestimated".

[pediatricmedic]

3. Don't worry, we have QEinifinity to handle it and other spending problems

The side effect is that it makes the middle class poor and the poor destitute.

[johnnyreb]

4. —real, imagined, and staged—

Now we're talkin'.

additional funding thanks to increased threats of terror—real, imagined, and staged—

[obxhead]

5. Meh, the wars(s) were free.

We'll never be able to repay that debt. It will be one of the many things that eventually bring this country into default.

[Oldtimeralso]

6. Were not past war paid for by the taxpayer as they were fought.

I know that the Vietnam war made me pay a 10% surcharge on my Income Tax, too young to have a job in Korean war times.

[ReRe]

7. The hidden/off the books cost of GWs war

$6,000,000,000,000. That's 13 figures. Hidden. Off the books.

[Fire Walk With Me]

8. All of that debt makes someone very rich, and ripens the US for Greece-style "austerity".

Which means the rich get rich off of everyone, then create a tax on everyone to take more money. Fuck the banksters!

[AnotherMcIntosh]

9. Many of us voted for the anti-war candidate, Obama. But which Senate Democrats

voted in favor of the war and the war spending?

Clinton and Kerry did.

They were joined by others, including Biden and Lieberman, plus Feinstein (D-CA), Dodd (D-Ct), Carper (D-DE), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Cleland (D-GA), Miller (GA), Bayh (D-IN), Harkin (D-IA), Breaux (D-LA), Landrieu (D-LA), Carnahan (D-MO), Baucus (D-MT), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Reid (D-NV), Torriccelli (D-NJ), Schumer (D-NY), Edwards (D-NC), Dorgan (D-ND), Hollings (D-SC), Daschle (D-SD), Johnson (D-SD), Cantwell (D-WA), Rockefeller (D-WV), and Kohl (D-WI).

[xtraxritical]

24. And the whole nation was lied to with the most influential media being way complicit, taking

their stories directly from the White house and NY Times Judith Miller. WMD, mushroom clouds, aluminum tubes, Niger yellow cake ad nausea. All of these distortions were taken seriously after the 9/11 attacks, as they should have been. It's very easy to be 20/20 in hind sight.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

32. Yes. And it is more difficult to continue to be duplicitous.

23 Senators, mostly Democrats, knew that it was BS at the time. They weren't fooled.

[mercymechap]

34. How did they know that when

doofus himself and his whole administration were keeping revealing information from them?

Trying to blame the Democrats and the public after the disgraceful sham those idiots in the WH pulled is what is duplicitous.

[NewJeffCT]

36. I'm guessing they didn't know for sure

but, voted against the war because they suspected Bush/Cheney and company were either hiding something from them and/or rushing us to war when we should wait.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

44. Actually, here's the list of 21 Senate Democrats who did not believed in the WH Iraq justifications:

"21 of 50 Democratic senators voted against the resolution: Sens. Akaka (D-HI), Bingaman (D-NM), Boxer (D-CA), Byrd (D-WV), Conrad (D-ND), Corzine (D-NJ), Dayton (D-MN), Durbin (D-IL), Feingold (D-WI), Graham (D-FL), Inouye (D-HI), Kennedy (D-MA), Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), Mikulski (D-MD), Murray (D-WA), Reed (D-RI), Sarbanes (D-MD), Stabenow (D-MI), Wellstone (D-MN), and Wyden (D-OR).

Plus

"1 (2%) of 49 Republican senators voted against the resolution: Sen. Chafee (R-RI).

"The only Independent senator voted against the resolution: Sen. Jeffords (I-VT)

Final Congressional vote by chamber and party, October 2002:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Resolution

You are wrong in saying that the Democrats are to blame or that anyone is blaming the Democrats.

We should all be proud of the Senate Democrats who demanded proof and that the Constitution be followed while refusing to vote for the Iraq War Resolution.

[dem in texas]

10. What Neocon Paul Wolfowitz Said

I remember hearing him on NPR one day before we went in to Iraq and he said the oil revenues from Iraq would pay for the war. He went to explain in detail how much it would cost per month, I think he said 20 billion, and how we would be able recoup almost the same amount in oil revenue.

[chervilant]

41. Yeah, but

the "we" he meant for the first part (what it cost) is different from the "we" he means when he's discussing oil revenues...

[lonestarnot]

48. Comb licking fucker.

[WillyT]

11. K & R !!!

[Rain Mcloud]

12. Iraq War The Sequel

was a value proposition.
Remember these hits?

"The ambassador and the general were briefing me on the - the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Oct. 27, 2003

"My answer is bring them on."-On Iraqi insurgents attacking U.S. forces, George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., July 3, 2003


"First, let me make it very clear, poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to be not rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 19, 2003


"She's just trying to make sure Anthony gets a good meal - Antonio." -George W. Bush, on Laura Bush inviting Justice Antonin Scalia to dinner at the White House, Jan. 14, 2001

"Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties." --discussing the Iraq war with Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson in 2003, as quoted by Robertson

"I think I was unprepared for war." –on the biggest regret of his presidency, ABC News interview, Dec. 1, 2008

"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." --State of the Union Address, Jan. 28, 2003, making a claim that administration officials knew at the time to be false

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." --Washington, D.C., Sept. 13, 2001

"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." --Washington, D.C., March 13, 2002

"So what?" –President Bush, responding to a an ABC News correspondent who pointed out that Al Qaeda wasn't a threat in Iraq until after the U.S. invaded, Dec. 14, 2008

"Can we win? I don't think you can win it." --after being asked whether the war on terror was winnable, "Today" show interview, Aug. 30, 2004

"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace." --Washington, D.C. June 18, 2002

"I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn't do my job." --to a group of Amish he met with privately, July 9, 2004

"Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." --speaking underneath a "Mission Accomplished" banner aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, May 1, 2003

"We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories ... And we'll find more weapons as time goes on. But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them." --Washington, D.C., May 30, 2003

Dick Cheney said, “We will be greeted as liberators.”

Donald Rumsfeld said, in effect, that the war would pay for itself: “The bulk of the funds for Iraq’s reconstruction will come from Iraqis – from oil revenues, recovered assets, international trade, direct foreign investment….”

So,how do you know when a republican is lying?
When their lips move.

[vanlassie]

13. I have looked for years for a clip of that asshole John Snow

who was Treasury Sec at the time of the invasion. He was asked if it wasn't going to be terribly expensive to invade Iraq?
"No- we can easily afford it" was his blithe response. Fucker.

[Hissyspit]

14. I had forgotten about that guy.

I do remember him saying that, now.

[Hissyspit]

15. kick nt

[Beakybird]

16. + The billions of dollars in higher gas prices

Remember all the spikes in gas prices we paid at the pump because of instability in the Middle East?

[mountain grammy]

49. Oh, raising the danger code to orange meant higher gas prices....

What a sick joke!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

17. Keep in mind that money went to the politically connected.

[Solly Mack]

18. K&R

Costs us more than money.

[Javaman]

19. Moron* catapulted the propaganda to further enrich and increase the power of the wealthy.

if anyone ever had any doubt as to that being the reason behind this war, you weren't paying attention.

he* was my half wit gov before being selected as prez. I knew what was coming.

[mercymechap]

33. Ain't that the truth!

[chervilant]

42. So did

ALL the rest of us rational beings who witnessed this bumbling frat boy f$#* up in Texas.

[Orsino]

20. "C'mon, just let me put the tip in."

"Just for a minute. Six weeks, maybe. I doubt six months."

[NYtoBush-Drop Dead]

22. lol!

[NYtoBush-Drop Dead]

21. Send the Bill to Bush, his children, Bid Dick, his children

and every repug in COngress.

[cthulu2016]

23. The "plus interest" figure is cheap PR

I will never applaud important issues being dragged into the mire of spin.

A dollar of interest payment in 2053 is a 2053 dollar. That is smaller than a 2003 dollar... by a lot.

If someone gave the total nominal cost of a house with a mortgage the total is shocking. Now, if someone claimed that the nominal total of all payments is what is really paid for the house they would be advancing an agenda, not trying to give an accurate picture of cost, because interest in the future is paid with devalued dollars.

$2 Trillion is plenty to be upset about. That is a great sum of money.

And, unlike $6 trillion, the figure does not demand to be dismissed or suggest that the speaker is running some spin, rather than trying to provide the most honest view of something.

When you are on the right side, be scrupulously honest. Gilding the lilly never helps.

[marions ghost]

25. Austerity

...spent that 6 trillion...

Darn.

[aquart]

26. Shake Halliburton and see how much of it falls out.

[deutsey]

27. And Bush gets to live out a nice cozy life

painting puppies.

[mercymechap]

30. I'm sure you meant

painting himself nude in the tub! LOL!

[deutsey]

31. I've tried to erase that from my memory

Thanks for reminding me of it...looks like more therapy for me. :-P

[mercymechap]

51. So sorry, but

I didn't want to be the only one suffering from such trauma.

[chollybocker]

28. Flowers and chocolates don't come cheap.

[mercymechap]

29. Ha, ha, according to some Republican/conservatives

it was the best thing we could have done. And according to Bush, it was not a mistake!

They're so brainwashed and ignorant.

[Rex]

35. Meh...the Pentagon loses that much annually.

Down the rabbit hole it goes...and TPTB are not only perfectly fine with it, but are cowards and will never try and stop the hemorrhaging.

[NewJeffCT]

38. the Pentagon loses $6 trillion annually?

the entire federal government spent less than $3.8 trillion in the 2011-12 fiscal year, with over $1.6 trillion being spent on medicare & social security.

[Rex]

39. No, I kid some...but yes they did lose trillions

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/budget-buster-pentagon-unable-account-trillions-glain-says-160838112.html

Kinda one of those, 'oopsie sorry our bad, can we have another trillion?' moment.

[Newest Reality]

37. Only six-trillion?

Gee, astronomical amounts like that are really chump change amongst the REAL PEOPLE(tm) who matter most in this perspective-driven world.

What's the amount in derivatives now? I recall that market is around $36-trillion. Those players live in, literally, a whole other reality or sphere or world, or what have you. Most of us are not really human beings, but more like insignificant atoms that comprise the structure of their hyper-reality.

How can we complain from that perspective? Have you heard any ants crying out about the injustices of the colony? Do any of your cells determine if you are going to eat yet another whole cake?

[snagglepuss]

40. What a great subject for a Michael Moore doc.

It's impossible to wrap one's head around that number.

[LaPera]

43. Meant to steal oil, while the rich & their corporations & contractors making hundreds of billions

of dollars - All from our tax dollars.

While trying to destroy ALL social programs in the process - Telling the American people well. there's no money left for education, infrastructure, Social Security, etc..... ALL DONE PURPOSELY BY BUSH AND THE REPUBLICANS.

As they almost completely destroyed our economic system by the time Bush finally left office.

[SomethingFishy]

45. Remember the guy they fired for saying

that the war was going to cost $200 Billion? At the time they were claiming 50 billion and they fired this guy(Lawrence Lindsey) for publicly claiming the war would cost at least 200 billion.

[The Wizard]

46. No wonder

gas is so expensive.

[blkmusclmachine]

47. W lied about EVERYTHING.

IMO, of course.

[mountain grammy]

50. I remember waking up to the news that Saddam was caught

like a "rat in a hole." That was December, 2003. Ok, I thought, that should end this fiasco, now let's find Osama. But no, the neocons had other plans for us.